A safe Victoria, for everyone.

It all starts with respect

A safe Victoria,
for everyone.

It all starts with respect.

Communities of respect

Many people are surprised to learn how prevalent family violence is in our communities:

1 in 3 Australian women have experienced physical violence

90% of Australian women with an intellectual disability have experienced sexual abuse

1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner.

And that's only some of the stats.

Why is this happening?

You might also be surprised to learn that the main drivers of family violence are gender inequality, discrimination and marginalisation.

That means things like sexist jokes, racist comments, homophobic attitudes, discrimination and financially controlling another person drive family violence. These behaviours don’t necessarily make a person violent. But they do create the culture that enables and supports violence.

Respect Victoria acknowledges the important work of the sector in addressing this culture and reflects on the delivery of recommendations arising from the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

How do we stop it?

By building a culture of respect for all Victorians, no matter their gender, age, sexuality or cultural background. We do this by engaging Victorians in community campaigns.

But we can’t do it all at once. Here are some of our campaigns so far.

Our latest campaign

This campaign brings men into the conversation about family violence, providing them with the tools to call out disrespectful and sexist behaviour.

Why? To some people, these behaviours can seem harmless enough or simply not their business, being between a husband and wife or a guy and his girlfriend.

But research shows they are actually some of the most well-known drivers of family violence. And even if a man being sexist or disrespectful isn’t actually violent, their behaviour contributes to the culture that supports and enables family violence.

We know men want to be able to call out this behaviour. We also know how important it is they do it. This campaign gives them the tools to call it out.

When to call it out

When someone is disrespecting a woman or making her uncomfortable, call it out.

It might be someone:

Making a sexist joke

Demeaning a family member or putting them down

Controlling how their partner or family member spends money

Controlling their partner's movements

Trying to stop their partner seeing friends or family.

If you don’t feel confident to call it out, there are still things you can do, which are explained below.

As long as you feel safe to.

How to call it out

You don’t have to say much. Just something. Watch these videos and you’ll hear guys saying things like: "That's not funny mate" and "That's not okay".

Why is it so important to call it out?

One in three Australian women have experienced physical violence and every week, one Australian woman is murdered by her current or former partner.

As a society, we can prevent this by building a culture of respect, where there’s no room for gender inequality, discrimination or marginalisation. Research shows these things are at the root of family violence. This is why it is so important to call it out.